FLORENCE – It's hard not to feel disappointed after this draw against Fiorentina. You could see it on the face of Andrea Stramaccioni as he gave his post-match interviews and he admitted as much during his analysis of the game: "Well done to Fiorentina but it's regrettable for us. The result can be credited to our opponents for the most part: they did very well when chasing the ball and it was a small step backwards for us in terms of our own possession game. It wasn't easy to play against this team. We had a game plan to cause them problems but we were only able to put it into practice for short spells. What we had prepared wasn't totally reproduced on the pitch, but I'd play this match the same way again. When Fiorentina started playing with five at the back – because they played with a five-man defensive line – I tried to put out all the players we had who could trouble them, and we tried to make things happen on the wings. At times we did that, at others we didn't. We did well two against one when we arrived at pace. When we succeeded in moving the ball around we looked dangerous; when we didn't, things were more sluggish."
Stramaccioni then spoke about the specific tasks he gave to his players: "I asked Poli and Cambiasso to pull the strings from deep - which is what Stankovic did in the other games. Sneijder gave us more dribbling potential. Forlan? If I picked him it's because I felt it was the right choice, and I'd do it again. But these are the first games that Inter are playing this way, it takes time... Still, what pleased me was that Inter came here with a clear imprint - the imprint of a team that plays to win and is set up to attack."
So what does today's point mean in terms of the league table? The coach explained: "We're taking it one game at a time. Inter aren't easing up and we won't until the end: we'll keep battling until we're out of it mathematically. I'm not promising the fans anything - they deserve to see action and not words - but Inter believe in third place and we'll keep believing until the last breath. And I'm saying that even after a draw which we hoped would be a win. I realise it's two points dropped in the race for third but, as I said, as long as it's mathematically possible I'll keep believing. Now we have a crunch game against Udinese, a direct rival, on a day when there will be other teams around us playing each other. We'll do everything we can to stay in the running right up to the last game of the season. I bear witness to the belief in our dressing room and that belief will be there until the end."The Nerazzurri coach was also asked to comment on Pazzini's non-appearance after Chivu's injury meant the final substitution was a defensive one: "Was Pazzini annoyed? I was annoyed too because I wanted him to help us out in attack for the last part of the game. But Chivu got injured in a challange and unfortunately two of my three substitutions were forced on me. We'll assess Chivu and Zanetti tomorrow. I spoke with doctor Combi about Pupi during the interval and we decided not to risk him. Chivu's looks more serious."
